Door construction



April 14, 1925.

H. MALARKEY DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 24, 1924 rama" Fara y W@ W I, r Nm ,ma e NM fm 6 ,f Nv y w B man w/f. @n 6 n www 2 0 H 2)/ 7 i 2 M2M Patented Apr. 14, 1925.

UNITED STATES HUNTINGTON MLARKEY, vO- (CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. i I

DOOR CONSTRUCTION.

Application led November 24, 1924". Serial No. 751,898.

10 ZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it knownthat I, `"HUNTiNGroN MALAR- nnr, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, United` States of America, have invented new and useful Im'- provements in Door Constructions, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to thestructural' featuresl of -a door, and has particularly to do with the joinder of several elen'ients thereof, the construction of such elements, the manner in which saidi elements are correlated for the purpose of reducing manufacturing costs upona finished door.

Among the objects ofthe invention are the following An improvement in door construction whereby a new and improved-'type of mullion is used, making the door such". that it is practically impervious toi moisture notwithstanding the severity of its exposure to the elements;

An improvement in the method of uniting said mullion with the rails of a door and forcing it into interlocking association with the panels thereof;

The combination in a door, of a mullion and rails in .association with the panels-f intermediate said mullion and the stiles of said door whereby said mullion andsaid panels are rendered proof kagainst the effects of weather;

An improved, construction whereby the mullion or inullions of a door and the panels thereof are locked into position by a wedge construction, rendering the door structure thoroughly substantiali and wholly weatherproof, p

These, and such other objects as may hereinafter appear` are obtainedl by the novel construction of the severalelementls which constitute a door embodying said invention, the arrangement of said elements, and the combination thereof inthe assembly of said door. The accompanying single sheet of drawing illustrates a single embodimentfof the invention and should be referred to in connection withy a description ofthe inven tion hereinafter given.

In said drawing Figure 1 is a front or rear elevation of a door embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a transverse section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary verticalV section on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure tis a lfra'gmentary vertical section on the line 4 4 of Figure y11, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 5 isa fragmentary,transversesection through one stile and a portion ofthe bottom rail of the door on the line 5- of Figure 1,- looking in the direction of the arrows;

Likereference characters are used to designate similarrparts inthe drawing andA in the description which follows.

Examination shouldrst be made of Figure 1. Numerals 1'0 and 11 are used to` designate the stiles of a door embodying the invention, the molding ontthe inner edges of said stiles being` formed upon a stick-ing machine common inA the art. Arranged transversely of and engaging stiles `10i-,and 11 are a plurality of rails, the uppermost; or top 'one' of said railsbeing designated 12, the intermediate rail being called the lock rail anddesignated 13 and the vlower-mostral being generally named hereinafter as bottom rail let. Between said top :rail 1:2 and: said loclrrail 1 3r and stiles l()` and 11` are .bars and muntins, designated 16 and y17.

rIhe stiles 10 and lland' the rails 12 and 13 Vmay be provided witlr rabbets forglass as is usual in the art. y l

For the purpose of securely-joining stiles 10 and 11 to the rails 12, 13 andlfa phirality of` dowels 18 may be employedl Any other suitable fastening meansl may be used when desired A vertically paneled door. suchV as is here illustrated, is always preferred inarchitectural designing,.for the reason that verti al panels lend an artistici effect. Doors which are not subjectto exposure to the' elements are almost invariably vertically paneled because a longitudinal disposition ofpanels hasta higher artistic merit and is more pleasingto the esthetic naturelthana` doorJl-iaving transversely arrangedV panels.

In doors eomprisinga plurality ofpanels longitudinally arranged, mullions are disposed intermediate the lock rail and bottom rail thereof. In conventional door construction, such mullions are Varranged so that they are iiush with the lock and bottom rails of the door and are coextensive therewith in respect to' thickness of material,y Such a construction as this, however, has proved wholly unsuited for exposed doors upon buildings such as garages and the like because rain and snow cause an opening of the joints between such mullions and the rails between which such mullions are disposed, producing a destructive disturbance with respect to the panels in association with said mullions, and eventually rendering the door unt for use because oi opened joints therein. Y

The present invention is to overcome this objection to an out-o-door door having longitudinally disposed mullions and for the added purposes oi improving` .the artistic eiect obtainable through the agency oi' a mullion, and to generally improve door construction.

Ile-terence again should be had to Figure 1, and additionally, to Figures 2, 3 and 4. In

the door illustrated in Figure 1 but two panels are shown, but there may be any number of panels according Vto the width of a door. Between each two adjacent panels is a mullion, designated in the accompanying drawing as 19. Said adjacent panels are designated 20.A

For the purpose oi seating mullion 19 intermediate lock rail 13 and bottom rail 14, said rails are eachY provided with a plowed groove, the central portion 21 of the groove being of greater depth than the side portions 22 thereof. Mullion 19 is oi' a thickness coextensive with the wider portion of said grooves, and is disposed therein after assembly with respect to panels 20. Stiles y10 and 11 are provided with longitudinal grooves 23 and 24 in the molding on their inner edges and mullion 19 has opposite longitudinal grooves -25 and 26 to receive therein the edges of panels 20, said edges of panels 2O extending into the deep section 21 of the plowed grooves in lock rail 13 and bottom rail 14;.

In this assembly, spaces are left intermediate the surface of each panel QOYand the vertical margin oit groove 22 in both the loch rail 13 and the bottom rail 14C, which spaces are substantially coextensive with the width oi the vshallow groove'sections QQ. These pockets or unilled spacesexist at both the top and bottom oi panels-20 and upon both sides thereof, four of such spaces being formed in relation to each panel 20. Into these pockets are subsequently forced wedge members 2T, each of said wedge members comprising a wedge shaped stick having its one end shaped to coincide with the contour of theV molding upon the stiles 10 and 11 .and

its other end with the edge oi mullion 19 extending from the grooves 25 and 2G to the exposed flat transverse surfare thereof. Glue may be used to secure wedges 27, or any other desirable aii'ixing means.

In Figure 5, a detail in section of the dowel construction of the door is disclosed.

It is quite manifest from the foregoing that the embodiment of the invention here illustrated is but one of the many forms which the invention may assume, and it is not the purpose oi' this applicationv to limit the invention to suchl single structure but, on the contrary, the lneasure of the invention is to be found in the claims hereto appended. Such invention resides in a new form of mullion as disclosed, in the manner oi associating such mullion with a door, and in the use of wedge members, or their equivalent, in conjunction with such mullion 'for the purpose of securing panels of the door in rigid position and wholly free from the rampages of weather. It is instantly apparent that a more artistic door may be produced by the use of a depressed mullion which is here disclosed than may be had by the usual flush mullion construction.

I claim 1. A `door comprising stiles, rails, panels, and a mullion intermediate said panels, said rails being transversely grooved to provide a seat for said panels and mullion, and in which said rails have a continuous groove of two depths, Vsaid panels being seated in said grooves at one depth and said mullionbeing seated therein at the other depth thereof.

2. A door comprising Stiles, rails having arranged therein a ygroove of two depths, panels in the deeper section of said grooves, a mullion intermediate said panels and seated in the shallow section of said grooves, and locking strips also in said shallow section and engaging said panels.

3. In a door, stiles, rails having a wide groove therein, panels in the central portion oi said grooves, and wedge members in said grooves and upon each side of said panels.

4:. A door comprising vertical stiles, transverse top, lock and bottom rails, panels intermediate said lock and bottom rails, a mullion separating said panels, and locking .wedges on opposite sides of said panels, said lock and bottom rails being grooved' to seat said panels at one depth, and said mullion and said locking 'wedges at another depth.

HUNTINGTON MALA'RKEY. 

